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Here’s a man-bites-dog story: A barrier is about to go down in the I-71/670 construction zone.

Ohio Department of Transportation contractors will remove a barrier this weekend that has kept southbound I-71 traffic separated since last fall from that entering the highway from westbound I-670.

The change, to be in place by Monday’s morning rush hour, will allow I-71 drivers to exit at Spring Street, although ODOT officials aren’t encouraging the move because it will require the kind of quick lane changes that the entire $200 million project is supposed to reduce.

They’re not putting up signs prohibiting the move, either, but spokeswoman Nancy Burton said southbound I-71 drivers should continue to use the Broad Street exit south of Spring Street if they’re coming into Downtown.

Workers are removing the barrier so they can shift traffic onto two newly rebuilt I-71 lanes and begin reconstruction of two lanes that had been kept open since the project began.

That will require some additional restrictions this weekend, the department said:

• The ramp from westbound I-670 to southbound I-71 will shut down at 8 p.m. Friday. Drivers should continue on I-670 to Rt. 315 as an alternate route.

• Southbound I-71 traffic will be diverted onto westbound I-670 at 10 p.m. Friday. Again, Rt. 315 is the alternate route to get back to I-71 or I-70/71. • The 11th Avenue entrance to southbound I-71 will shut down at 9 p.m. Friday.

Ramps and lanes should reopen by 5 a.m. Monday.

At that time, though, westbound I-670 drivers won’t be able to exit at Jack Gibbs Boulevard and Cleveland and Leonard avenues, where the ramp will shut down for 60 days.

For drivers on I-670, removal of the concrete barriers between traffic lanes will create more merging room onto southbound I-71. The curve from I-670 will be sharper, though, as drivers move to the newly opened lanes of I-71.

Drivers began using new lanes on northbound I-71 this week. It’s the first section of rebuilt roadway to open in the three-year project, which began 10 months ago.